


Airplanes and Spaceships and Trucks, Oh my

by JasonVoorhees



Series: You gotta talk about your feelings [3]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst, Autobot/Decepticon friendships, But they try, Cyclonus angst but he's working through it, Getting Together, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hot Rod's a himbo, M/M, Ultra Magnus can't deal, that's the coneheads they're very dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21813205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonVoorhees/pseuds/JasonVoorhees
Summary: One and a half weeks of peace isn't much, but it's a start. Skyfire and Starscream are working together on the Decepticon base, dancing around their feelings (Starscream's just getting frustrated). Cyclonus has just arrived in Autobot City as the official Decepticon Liaison. He has his own issues to work out. And Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet might make (gasp) some Autobot friends?
Relationships: Astrotrain/Blitzwing, Blurr/Hardhead (Transformers), Cyclonus & Scourge, Octane/Sandstorm, Skyfire/Starscream
Series: You gotta talk about your feelings [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571764
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Airplanes and Spaceships and Trucks, Oh my

“You know what’s funny?” Blitzwing said to Astrotrain, Octane, and Sandstorm as they stood outside Autobot city waiting for the Decepticon transport to arrive.

“That we’re standing here waiting to welcome Cyclonus and the coneheads into Autobot City?” Octane guessed.

“That too,” Blitzwing agreed. “But today would have been the last day of our mission.”

“Thank Primus it’s not,” Sandstorm said, bumping his shoulder into Octane’s. Octane responded by bumping back and giving Sandstorm a huge goofy grin.

“Yeah, Octane couldn’t have handled another week and a half,” Astrotrain said.

“Uh, yes I could,” Octane said indignantly.

“No, you definitely couldn’t,” Blitzwing said.

“I don’t think _I_ could have,” Sandstorm said, wrapping his arms around Octane’s midsection.

“Me neither,” Octane said immediately. Blitzwing kicked him in the ankle. “Ow!”

“No fighting,” Astrotrain said, gently guiding Blitzwing away from Octane. “There’s the shuttle.”

The approaching craft was quite small, but menacingly designed (as most Decepticon ships were), full of points and sharp edges. The Decepticon emblem was proudly painted on both sides. It was unclear what that symbol stood for anymore, but a week and a half truce wasn’t much compared to four million years of war. They could only work—and hope—for the peace to be permanent.

The transport landed and the doors opened immediately. Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet spilled out, complaining about the cramped conditions of the ship. Cyclonus exited after them, looking apprehensive.

“Hi!” Octane said. “Welcome to Autobot City!”

“Hi!” Thrust said brightly when he saw who was waiting. “How are you guys doing? Autobots driven you crazy yet?”

“Sandstorm drives me crazy,” Octane said, making goo-goo eyes at Sandstorm. Sandstorm giggled.

“Barf,” said Ramjet. “You gonna show us around?”

“No, we’re just the escorts,” Astrotrain replied. “Me and Blitzwing are taking Cyclonus to Optimus and Ultra Magnus.”

“And we’re taking you three to see Jazz and Bumblebee,” Octane said, gesturing at himself and Sandstorm.

“Let’s go then,” Cyclonus said flatly. He nodded at the three coneheads. “Goodbye.” He turned to Blitzwing and Astrotrain expectantly.

“Er, okay, then, this way.” Astrotrain and Blitzwing led Cyclonus up the ramp into the city. “Do you have all the, uh, personal effects you need?”

“Yes,” said Cyclonus, although it didn’t look like he’d brought anything with him.

“Oh. Well,” Astrotrain said, “after you meet with the big guys we’ll show you where your quarters will be.”

“Okay,” was all Cyclonus said.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Astrotrain said, “Um, so how are you doing?”

Cyclonus gazed thoughtfully at Astrotrain, then shrugged. Well. Astrotrain knew Cyclonus was doing better, at least, because he’d accepted this position. He and Blitzwing hadn’t been super involved in the negotiations going on in the past week and a half, but he did know that Cyclonus had volunteered.

“Starscream doing a good job, you think?” Blitzwing asked.

“Surprisingly, yes,” was Cyclonus’s response. He paused. “I think… people are happier. So far.”

“Well, we’re happy here,” Astrotrain said. “We hope you will be too.”

Cyclonus didn’t seem to have an answer for that, but they’d reached Optimus’s office anyway.

Optimus stood as soon as they pushed the door open; Ultra Magnus was already standing off to the side. “Cyclonus,” Optimus said. “Welcome to Earth, and to Autobot City. Congratulations on being the first Decepticon liaison.” He grabbed Cyclonus’s hands and pumped them up and down. “We’re quite happy to have you.”

“Thank you…” Cyclonus said stiffly.

“You’ll be sharing Ultra Magnus’s office,” Optimus continued. “He believes you’ll work well together based on past experience.”

“I—perhaps,” Cyclonus said, seeming slightly off-guard. He looked at Ultra Magnus and said, “It’s… good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you under better circumstances,” Ultra Magnus replied with a polite smile. He paused, then added, “Thank you for coming.”

“You’re welcome,” Cyclonus said slowly. He offered his hand and Ultra Magnus shook it firmly.

Optimus addressed the two triple-changers, who were hovering near the door. “Blitzwing, Astrotrain, thank you for escorting him here. Ultra Magnus can take over now.”

“Oh. Okay,” Blitzwing said. “No problem. Anything else you need us to do?”

“No, no,” Optimus said. He patted Blitzwing’s shoulder. “You’ve done quite enough.” He turned to Cyclonus. “I leave you in Ultra Magnus’s capable hands. He’ll help you get all your ducks in a row.”

“What?” said Cyclonus.

“I don’t think anyone knows what that means, Optimus,” Ultra Magnus said. “I’ll explain,” he assured a frowning Cyclonus. “Optimus likes to use Earth sayings.”

“Earth is a learning experience,” Optimus replied wisely. “Part of living here means appreciating the language and culture. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet Elita-1 and her team. They should be arriving shortly.” He trotted out of the office, and the remaining bots went their separate ways.

Much as he didn’t like Autobots, Dirge was finding it rather interesting to be guided through Autobot City. All his previous encounters with the Autobots had been fights, and he’d never gotten to see them actually going about their lives.

Octane and Sandstorm were being very vocal hosts, too, pointing out every little room and saying hello to everyone they passed. Dirge started to get tired of it rather quickly, and Thrust and Ramjet made it no secret they did too.

“Do we have to say hi to everybody?” Thrust complained. “We’re only supposed to be picking up this shipment.”

“Yes!” said Octane. “It’s part of the peace process!”

“Are you sure?” Ramjet said doubtfully.

“Absolutely,” Octane replied. “It’s important for us to see each other as individuals, rather than just two opposing groups.”

Sandstorm nodded. “Well said.”

“Thanks, babe. Ohh, here’s the basketball court. Optimus put that in. We should show you guys how to play.”

“Who’s that little red guy scowling at us?” Ramjet asked, pointing up the hall. Dirge turned to look, and saw a small Autobot with red horns and a deadly glare fixed on the seekers.

“Oh, that’s Cliffjumper,” Sandstorm said. “Hi, Cliffjumper. Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet are here to pick up trade items.”

Cliffjumper snarled at them as they walked past.

“See, I can respect that,” Thrust said.

They turned a corner and arrived at a large door. Sandstorm tapped a button and it opened with a _whoosh_. “Here we are!” he said. “Jazz and Bumblebee are going to help you get everything back to your ship.” He gestured inside the room, but it was empty.

“There’s nobody there,” Ramjet said. “Did you get lost? You live here.”

“No… this is definitely where they said they’d be…” Octane commed Arcee. “Hey, Arcee? It’s Octane. Do you know where Jazz and Bumblebee are?”

Arcee’s voice came back over the comm, slightly distorted. “They’re not back yet.”

“Oh. Well, the co—Decepticons are here. Should they just wait?”

“Yes, they should be getting back any time now,” Arcee replied. “Jazz did say they might be delayed.”

“Okay… thanks.” Octane made a face. “You three mind waiting?”

“Yes,” Thrust said. “But we don’t have a choice, do we?”

Octane rocked back and forth on his feet. “Nooo… but also, Sandstorm and I have somewhere else to be…”

“You’re gonna leave us here alone?” Dirge asked. There was a truce on, but it didn’t seem like the greatest idea.

Fortunately, two more Autobots wandered up right at that moment and peered over the coneheads’ shoulders into the empty hangar.

“Aw,” said one of them. “Guess they’re not back yet.”

Sandstorm’s face lit up. “Hey, Chromedome, are you guys waiting for Jazz and Bumblebee too?”

“And Blurr,” added the other Autobot, who had a large turret on one shoulder. “He went with them.”

“Excellent! Can you wait with them?” Sandstorm gestured at the seekers. “Octane and I gotta go. Thanks, bye!” He and Octane grabbed each other’s hands and sprinted off down the hall.

“Hey!” Chromedome exclaimed. He frowned at the Decepticons. “I suppose you three are here to get the materials they’re bringing back.”

“Yeah,” said Dirge.

“Ugh. Fine, I guess we can wait with you.” Chromedome plopped down on the floor and crossed his arms. The other Autobot sat down next to him.

Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet sat down on the opposite side of the hall. “If I’d known we were going to be waiting, I’d have brought our game stuff,” Ramjet grumbled. Thrust had almost brought it anyway, but Starscream told them they needed to act proper. As if he ever did.

At that moment, back on Chaar, Starscream was actually trying very hard to act proper and failing. The entire base was in a bit of a disarray due to the Constructicons renovating it into a ship. As a result, hallways were blocked off, walls had been torn down (and some had been put up where there were none previously), there were random holes in the ground, and construction materials were laying _everywhere_.

Starscream had been attempting to get to the communications room so he could contact Earth. He and Skyfire had left the research lab to find hastily scribbled detour signs in the hallway. They’d ended up going all the way around the edge of the base only to dead-end at a doorway that Skyfire couldn’t fit through, and Starscream was now kicking said doorway and yelling.

“It’s all right,” Skyfire said. “Why don’t we call Scrapper and ask him the best route?”

“I will!” Starscream shouted. “I just need to calm down first.” He clenched his fists and took several deep breaths.

Skyfire waited a minute, then said, “You’re doing a good job.”

“I _know_ ,” Starscream replied. He set his jaw, took another breath, and commed Scrapper. “Scrapper,” he said, his tone semi-calm but clearly annoyed, “I’m having issues with your detour.”

“Um, hey, Starscream,” Scrapper answered. “Sorry… we’re trying to keep the datapads updated as we go. Where are you?”

“ _Somewhere_ on the first level,” Starscream said, “All the doors are missing in this hall.”

“I think that was weapons storage,” Skyfire offered, pointing to the nearest room.

“Oh!” said Scrapper. “There should be a doorway at the end of the hall. Did somebody block it off?”

“No,” Starscream said. “But Skyfire can’t fit through it.”

There was a small _eep_ on the other end of the comm. “Skyfire, I’m so sorry!” Scrapper said. “Bonecrusher’s on the first floor, I’ll send him to find you.”

“It happens,” Skyfire assured him.

“Send him quickly,” Starscream ordered. “We’re supposed to be calling the Autobots.”

“Yes sir.” The comm cut out. Starscream sighed and rubbed the sides of his head.

Skyfire regarded him, slightly concerned. Since arriving on Chaar a week and a half ago, he hadn’t actually gotten to assist Starscream very much with his research. As soon as Skyfire had gotten there, the Constructicons—and most of the other bots on the base, who were helping out—had started turning the place upside down. To their credit, they were being very organized. As Scrapper had said, they’d been updating the datapads with which areas they’d blocked off and what paths were accessible.

It was frustrating everyone regardless, and on top of that, Skyfire had witnessed nearly every Decepticon on the base coming to Starscream with one problem or another (some quite petty) that they needed resolved. Skyfire had gently asked why Starscream didn’t delegate some of the problems to his command staff—Cyclonus, Soundwave, and Sixshot—and Starscream had replied that he _would_ , eventually, but he had to establish himself as the new leader, who was going to do things right, and all Scorponok had done was delegate. From what Skyfire had heard, Scorponok had barely even done that, leaving most of the staff to their own devices.

So although they’d had a few hours here and there in the research laboratory, Skyfire had mostly just been helping out where he was needed and keeping an eye on Starscream. He never minded keeping an eye on Starscream. But they hadn’t gotten to talk much, either. Partly because Starscream had been so busy, and partly because he was… a little distant. Not that Skyfire didn’t expect that. They’d been on opposite sides of the war for awhile. Rekindling their friendship wasn’t going to happen overnight.

He was also concerned because Starscream’s patience seemed to be thin these days. Skyfire was well aware that he didn’t know Starscream as well as he used to due to them being apart for so long, so he’d questioned several bots on the base that he knew had worked with Starscream for a long time—Soundwave, the coneheads, and the Constructicons, to start—and they’d confirmed that since taking over leadership, Starscream had been more easily frustrated and definitely more frazzled. Despite that, they all seemed to think it kind of came with the job and he was doing quite well managing everything.

“Why are you staring at me?” Starscream asked. Skyfire blinked his optics. He hadn’t meant to stare. Starscream was staring back at him, almost defiantly, and his face seemed to be running hot.

“Sorry,” Skyfire said. “Just thinking. You seem stressed…”

“Of course I’m stressed!” Starscream said. He gestured wildly at the hallway around them. “You see what’s been going on around here! And now Cyclonus is gone so I’ve only got two command staff and one of them is _Sixshot_.”

“Starscream,” said Skyfire, “I’ve seen you snipe at Sixshot every chance you get. That’s why he doesn’t want to listen to you.”

“He’s annoying,” Starscream retorted. “Besides, have you seen the reactions I can get out of him? Priceless.”

Skyfire was thinking about how to diplomatically tell Starscream he should knock it off when Bonecrusher showed up.

“Hi!” Bonecrusher said, driving up to them in bulldozer mode. “I’m here to make the doorway bigger!”

“About damn time,” Starscream said. He and Skyfire stepped out of the way and Bonecrusher happily demolished the whole wall.

“There you go!”

“Thank you, Bonecrusher,” Skyfire said.

“Tell Scrapper he’d better be making _all_ the doorways big enough,” Starscream ordered.

“We will,” Bonecrusher promised. “We’re really sorry about that, Skyfire.”

“You’d think you lunkheads would know better,” Starscream said. “You’re all buddy-buddy with Omega Supreme.”

“Omega Supreme can’t fit inside the base at all,” Bonecrusher pointed out. Starscream glared at him. “Um, I’ll just be getting back to work then.” He transformed to robot mode and hurried off.

Starscream stalked through the doorway and ended up doing an angry power walk all the way to the communications room. Skyfire easily kept up with him, and nodded politely to Soundwave when they reached their destination.

Soundwave nodded back. “Ultra Magnus and Cyclonus are waiting on the line,” he told Starscream.

“We _would_ have been here sooner if some people had taken accessibility into account,” Starscream grumbled. He waved a hand at the large screen on the wall. “Put them on.”

Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus appeared on the screen. “Hello, Starscream. Skyfire,” Ultra Magnus said.

“Hi, Ultra Magnus,” Skyfire said cheerfully. “Apologies for being late. Sometimes my size means I have to take the long way around. You know how it is.”

“Yes,” Ultra Magnus said sympathetically. “Cyclonus also informed me that the construction on the base has been causing delays.”

Starscream narrowed his optics at Cyclonus. “It’s not a big problem,” he said. “Things are going according to schedule. Have you got everything you need there, Cyclonus?”

“Yes,” Cyclonus said. “The Autobots are very accommodating so far.”

“And how are things with you, Skyfire?” Ultra Magnus inquired.

“Oh, wonderful,” Skyfire replied honestly.

Ultra Magnus nodded. “Excellent. I believe Optimus spoke to Omega Supreme earlier today, so we just need to coordinate sending you the calculations you asked for.”

“And the materials the coneheads are picking up,” Starscream said. “Are they on their way back yet?”

“I’ll check.” Ultra Magnus stepped out of the frame for a moment. Cyclonus stood there awkwardly, seeming not to know what to do with himself. Then they heard Ultra Magnus exclaim, “They what?” and he reappeared quickly.

Starscream raised a brow at him. “Yes?”

“Um, so,” Ultra Magnus said. “It seems we have an issue. Your three seekers and two of our Autobots have taken a small shuttle and run off.”

“ _Excuse_ me?” Starscream said. “Where, exactly, did they go? Do they have the trade materials with them?”

“No, I—” Ultra Magnus stepped off screen again. Cyclonus just shook his head at Starscream and shrugged. “Give me a minute,” Ultra Magnus called.

Cyclonus turned to the side, opened his mouth, and closed it again. “He’s left the room,” he said finally.

“What the hell is going on over there?” Starscream muttered.

What was going on there, or rather, what had been going on there, was that Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, and the two Autobots had been waiting for about ten minutes before Chromedome said, “Hey Hardhead, why do you think they’re not back yet?”

The other Autobot (Hardhead, apparently) thought about that. “Maybe they ran into trouble.”

“Where did they go, exactly?” Ramjet asked.

“The moon of some planet called Aelen,” Chromedome said. “They were helping out with a mining operation in exchange for a shipment of the ore.” He slapped his legs and stood. “I can’t sit around any longer! Let’s go get them ourselves.”

Hardhead stood up too. “Sounds good to me.”

Thrust immediately got up. “I don’t want to wait around either. We’ll come with you.”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to be picking up the shipment anyway,” Ramjet put in.

“That’s true,” Dirge agreed, because he was getting bored.

“Oh all right,” Chromedome said. “We’ll be hospitable. We’re going to have to sneak a shuttle though. I know Ultra Magnus will say no if we ask him.”

The five of them scurried off to the nearest shuttle bay, not a single one of them taking time to think twice about what they were doing.

Mirage was in the bay, taking notes on something. They only had to tell him that Cliffjumper was getting himself in trouble to get Mirage to run off in a hurry.

“And I wasn’t lying, because Cliffjumper is _always_ causing trouble,” Chromedome reasoned.

“That makes sense,” Dirge agreed. “We could say the same thing about half the Decepticons.”

“Not Scourge and the Sweeps,” Ramjet argued. “They hardly ever get in trouble.”

“Yeah,” Dirge said. “That’s why I said half.”

“Okay, but _which_ half?”

Dirge thought about that and came up with nothing. “I don’t know?”

“Figure it out on the way,” Chromedome said, pushing them towards one of the shuttles. “Hurry up, before someone else comes in.”

They all piled in and Hardhead launched the shuttle as fast as possible. “Woo-hoo!” Chromedome said as they shot up towards Earth’s atmosphere. “Aelen, here we come!”

“How far away is it?” Thrust asked.

“Very far, we have to go through the space bridge.” Hardhead messed around with the shuttle controls. “But it looks like it’s still set to go there, so we’re all good.”

They reached orbit and came out nearly on top of the space bridge. Hardhead had to steer sharply to the left to avoid crashing into it.

“Nice piloting,” Chromedome said, giving him a high-five.

“Thanks,” Hardhead said just as Arcee popped up on the shuttle’s main screen, looking aghast.

“Chromedome! Hardhead!” She exclaimed. “What are you _doing?_ ”

“Um, hey Arcee,” Chromedome said. “Jazz and Bumblebee and Blurr aren’t back yet so we’re just gonna go get them.”

“I know Ultra Magnus and Optimus didn’t approve this,” she said. “You get back here right now.” Spotting the seekers behind them, she added, “You took the Decepticons along?!”

“Well, yes, they’re here to pick up the materials after all,” Hardhead said. “And they were bored too,” he added as an afterthought.

“Holy Primus on a piston,” Arcee muttered, running her hand down her face. “You are in so much trouble, I swear.”

“Um, we’re activating the space bridge now, see you later Arcee bye!” Chromedome smacked the off switch on the monitor at the same time Hardhead accessed the remote space bridge controls. “Hurry up, Hardhead!”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Hardhead said. “Unless I use the boosters. I’ll do that.” He pushed a button and the shuttle shot through the space bridge so quickly that all the coneheads and Chromedome were thrown off their feet. Hardhead nearly fell out of the pilot’s chair, but he grabbed onto a nearby lever to steady himself. It kept him in his seat but the lever broke. “Hm,” he said.

“What’d you break?” Chromedome asked, clambering to his feet.

“It’s probably fine,” Hardhead said. He turned to the coneheads. “Hey, when we get close to the surface, could you give Chromedome and me a lift in your jet modes? The landing gear might be a tiny bit compromised.”

“I guess so, since you did do all the piloting,” Ramjet agreed.

“Hardhead did, does that mean you’re leaving me to die?” Chromedome asked.

“I’ll carry you,” Dirge offered, thinking it would be a bad start to peace if they just let the Autobot perish in the crash. He was pretty sure that’s what Hardhead was implying—a crash.

Hardhead slowed the shuttle down as much as possible, but they were still approaching Aelen’s moon way too fast. Chromedome opened the shuttle doors and a harsh wind whipped inside.

“This is kind of fun, actually,” Ramjet said as he transformed into jet mode. Hardhead carefully climbed on and they flew out into the moon’s dusty atmosphere.

Dirge and Thrust followed suit, Chromedome clinging so tightly to Dirge that Dirge wondered if he thought the seeker was going to try to drop him.

Hardhead pointed out the mine in the distance, and Ramjet adjusted his course to head for it, signaling Thrust and Dirge to follow. Dirge couldn’t help an inward wince as their shuttle smashed into the moon’s surface and tumbled over itself several times before coming to a stop, battered and broken. He hoped they weren’t counting on it to fly again.

When Ultra Magnus finally made it back to the communications room, Cyclonus was using one of the consoles to study a map of Autobot City, and Starscream was having some sort of meeting on his end with Soundwave and Sixshot. The Decepticon leader had waited for about five minutes after Ultra Magnus left before declaring that they might as well get something done. Cyclonus wasn’t really paying attention to the meeting because it all pertained to things on Chaar.

Ultra Magnus looked back and forth between the monitor and Cyclonus. Cyclonus glanced up and informed him, “Starscream said he’ll tell us when he’s done.”

Ultra Magnus sat down in front of the screen and, apparently having nothing better to do, listened in on the Decepticons’ meeting, which consisted entirely of renovation plans and duty rosters.

When they’d finished, Starscream drawled, “Oh, you’re back,” even though he’d looked up at the screen several times during the meeting and was well aware that Ultra Magnus was listening. “Are you finally going to tell us where our seekers have gone?”

“Yes,” Ultra Magnus replied. “Jazz, Bumblebee, and Blurr are on Aelen’s moon, mining the materials you need. They haven’t returned yet. Two of our Autobots, Chromedome and Hardhead, along with your three seekers, decided to take matters into their own hands and stole a shuttle to go get them.”

Starscream and the others absorbed that information. Cyclonus didn’t say anything, he just waited to see how Ultra Magnus was going to handle the situation.

“Was your mining team in distress,” Soundwave inquired.

“No,” Ultra Magnus said. “We haven’t gotten any communication from them since this morning, but it wasn’t mandatory and we were allowing for minor delays.”

“Then why did those Autobots and the seekers think they needed to go get them?” Sixshot asked. “Are they just stupid?”

Ultra Magnus stared levelly at Sixshot. “They were impatient. And you realize you’re including your own people in that statement.”

“Yeah, I realize,” Sixshot said, narrowing his optics at Ultra Magnus.

“Shut up, Sixshot,” Starscream said. “You’re not helping. So, Ultra Magnus, you’re saying that they just went to hurry your team along. Without permission.”

“Correct.”

“And what do you plan to do about it?”

Ultra Magnus paused. “Sending another team after them would be a waste of resources. We’ll discipline them when they get back. The Autobots, of course. The Decepticons will be sent back to Chaar immediately so you can deal with them.”

Starscream let out an impatient sigh. “So you made us wait all this time when it’s merely a disciplinary problem? Sounds like Optimus needs to get his troops in order.”

“With all due respect,” Ultra Magnus said, his tone verging on annoyance, “They aren’t troops. We have a truce, do we not?”

Starscream gave him a forced smile. “Of course. Update us if anything changes. Cyclonus, I trust you’ll handle any immediate issues that may arise with our visiting Decepticons?”

“I shall,” Cyclonus replied. He’d barely finished speaking before Starscream cut the channel.

“Perhaps we’re not off to the best start,” Ultra Magnus said. “Come on, we have to go inform Optimus of the situation.”

“Ah,” said Cyclonus. “Will he be upset?”

“Honestly?” Ultra Magnus sighed. “Probably not as much as he ought to be.”

“Ugh!” Starscream said. “I can’t believe we wasted all that time.”

“We went over the duty rosters,” Sixshot said.

“Sixshot, you need to stop talking, because your voice gives me a headache.” Starscream was rubbing his head again, and Skyfire was concerned not only because of that but because Starscream apparently didn’t have the energy to come up with a clever insult for Sixshot. Not that he should be using his energy for that, but still.

“Ditto,” Sixshot retorted, and left before Starscream could say anything else.

“Starscream,” Skyfire said, “Perhaps you should get some rest?”

Starscream’s head shot up. “Why? You think I’m doing something wrong?”

“No!” Skyfire said vehemently. “You just seem tired. I’m worried.”

“Worried that I’ll mess something up?” Starscream shot back. “I can handle this job perfectly well, thank you.” He spun on his heel and stomped out of the communications room, and Skyfire’s spark sank.

“That wasn’t… that wasn’t what I meant,” he said quietly. All he wanted was for Starscream to be happy; that’s all he’d ever wanted for a long time. Starscream had been through so much during the war, and Skyfire hadn’t been there for him, whether he’d been trapped in the arctic or fighting on the opposite side. He was hoping that, finally, _maybe_ , they could have something again—even if it was just friendship and nothing more. He loved Starscream, there was no denying that, but he knew those feelings were one-sided. That didn’t matter to Skyfire—as long as he could be there for Starscream, stay by his side, friends was fine, and he thought Starscream wanted to stay friends. After all, Starscream had asked for Skyfire, specifically. That meant he did want him here…but maybe it really just was for his scientific knowledge.

Skyfire sighed, and it came out sounding way more forlorn than he’d meant it to. He realized that Soundwave was still in the room, standing there silently—he did that a lot, Skyfire had figured out—and Skyfire made a hasty, embarrassed exit.

He had no idea where Starscream had gone, so he just went back to the lab. It was empty, and Skyfire found he had no desire to work on the research alone. He tried comming Starscream. No answer. He hadn’t really been expecting one.

He walked around the base, trying to find something to occupy himself with. It was, of course, still a maze of construction, although he politely greeted everyone he saw, got a cheerful, “Hi, Skyfire!” back from all of them, and felt a little better. The Decepticons were actually quite friendly.

Skyfire was starting to feel slightly claustrophobic (although he ought to be used to everywhere being slightly too small for him by now, hadn’t he?), so he went outside to wander the planet’s surface. Omega Supreme was outside the base, talking with Mixmaster and Long Haul, and laughing—which was something Skyfire had never seen him do before. That cheered him up a little more. This peace was new. They had to work on it, but surely they could reach a point where everyone was happy?

Skyfire transformed and took off. He circled the area for awhile until he spotted a familiar blue-red-and-white jet parked on the edge of a canyon. So that’s where Starscream had gone. Skyfire headed over but made no attempt to mask his approach, making sure Starscream knew he was coming and could take off again if he still wanted to be alone.

Starscream didn’t move, and Skyfire landed next to him.

“Starscream,” Skyfire said. Starscream hadn’t transformed, so Skyfire stayed in jet mode as well.

“What,” said Starscream flatly.

“I’m sorry,” Skyfire said. “I didn’t intend to upset you. I would never intend to upset you.”

“Nngh,” Starscream said.

“You’re doing an incredible job,” Skyfire went on. “I think so, I really do. But you’re overworking yourself. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Starscream didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then he transformed into robot mode and sat down. Skyfire politely did the same, careful to be conscious of Starscream’s personal space and leave a fair gap between them.

“Did you follow me out here to tell me that?” Starscream grumbled.

“I didn’t follow you,” Skyfire assured him. “I was just feeling a little cramped in the base. But I saw you over here and I wanted to apologize.”

“Good,” said Starscream. “I deserved an apology.”

“You did,” Skyfire agreed. They sat in silence, Starscream staring out across the canyon and Skyfire staring at Starscream.

Then Starscream looked up at him, and Skyfire’s fuel pump nearly stopped, because on his face was worry and anxiety and vulnerability, and Skyfire knew for a fact that there were very, _very_ few people in the universe that Starscream would show that side of himself to. He was not about to take that for granted.

“Do you really think I’m doing a good job?” Starscream asked.

“Yes,” Skyfire said firmly. “And everyone else I’ve heard say anything about it thinks the same thing.”

Starscream pulled his knees up to his chest. “I can’t screw it up, though. I’m—I need to make them trust me. I know I’ve always talked about how I can do this, but now that I am…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “If I slip up, I’ll never get it back.”

“Oh, Starscream,” said Skyfire, and he wanted nothing more than to gather the seeker in his arms and hold him close. But he couldn’t do that. “They know you. They know who you are, and they’re not going to turn on you if you make one little mistake.”

“They’re _Decepticons_ ,” Starscream said bitterly. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Things are changing,” Skyfire said. “And we’re all the ones changing them. _You_ already did the biggest thing. You took over the Decepticon leadership role, and immediately started peace negotiations. That was you, Starscream. I know the Autobots were scoping it out, and Soundwave knew about their plans, but _you’re_ the one who set it all in motion.”

Starscream was staring up at him with wide optics, and Skyfire realized he’d leaned quite bit closer to Starscream while trying to emphasize his point. He didn’t sit back up just yet. He needed to get this point across. “You’re amazing, Starscream. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Starscream’s mouth opened but all that came out at first was an undignified squeak. He coughed, then said, quietly, “Are you being serious?”

“Of course I am,” Skyfire said, and he poured all his emotions into his voice because he had to make sure Starscream understood. “I mean every single word.”

Starscream buried his face in his hands and Skyfire heard a muffled, “Primus help me.” He dragged his hands down his face and took a deep breath. “Thanks, Skyfire.”

“I’m here anytime you need to hear the truth,” Skyfire responded earnestly.

“And you won’t tell anyone about this conversation?” Starscream grimaced.

Skyfire shook his head. “Absolutely just between us, if you want it to stay that way.” Starscream mumbled something under his breath that Skyfire didn’t catch. “Sorry?”

“Nothing,” Starscream said quickly, getting to his feet. “I think I’m going to put Soundwave in charge for the rest of the day. Do you want to go back to the lab?”

Skyfire beamed. “I’d love to.”

Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet landed outside the mine entrance. It was large enough to accommodate Cybertronians, but had some very small tracks running into it that implied the Aelenians weren’t much larger than humans.

“It sure is quiet,” Chromedome said as the seekers transformed and gathered behind him and Hardhead.

Hardhead tilted his head. “I don’t hear anything at all. Maybe the mine just goes very far down.”

“Only one way to find out,” Thrust said, trotting forward.

“Think we can fly down there?” Ramjet wondered, peering into the dark shaft.

“I have no idea,” Chromedome said. This prompted Ramjet to transform back to jet mode and fly right in. There was a terrible metallic scraping sound immediately after.

“Ow. No, we can’t,” Ramjet called. “Help. I’m stuck.”

“Oh my god,” Chromedome said, and started laughing. “I can’t believe you did that. You’re nuts.”

“Stop laughing at me and come help!” Ramjet yelled.

“We’re coming, we’re coming,” Dirge said, hurrying inside. He couldn’t see very well, but Hardhead was right behind him, and he felt a tap on his shoulder pylon.

“There are lanterns,” Hardhead said when Dirge looked back. He pointed out an equipment rack set up against the wall.

They were really small lanterns, though. “How come they don’t have Cybertronian-sized ones?” Chromedome said. He grabbed one and fumbled with the tiny switch for several minutes before managing to turn it on. “Damn, this is basically a penlight.”

The rest of them took lanterns anyway, because what else were they going to use? Then they examined Ramjet to see how badly he was stuck.

The mineshaft narrowed as it went in, and Ramjet had gotten his wings firmly wedged in the sides of the tunnel.

“Think we can just pull him out?” Thrust asked. Dirge shrugged. They both grabbed hold of his tailfins and yanked.

“Ow ow ow!” Ramjet screeched. “Stop, stop! You’re going to break my wings.”

“Can you transform?” Chromedome asked. “Maybe that’ll unstick you.”

“No, I tried that already.”

“I guess we’ll have to blast the walls,” Hardhead said. “Make the tunnel a little bigger.” He waved the others out of the way and transformed into his tank mode. Then he aimed at one of the walls and fired off a round with a resounding _BOOM!_

The entire tunnel shook, and Hardhead had just enough time to transform back and say, “Oops,” before an entire section of the wall crumbled and collapsed.

“Oh Primus,” Dirge said, staring in horror at the pile of rocks where Ramjet was. “You’ve buried him alive.” They all ran forward and began digging out the pile.

“I got his tailfin!” Chromedome said triumphantly a minute later. He and Thrust grabbed on and dragged Ramjet out of the cave-in.

Ramjet was coated in dust and dented all over. “I still can’t transform,” he whined. “And look, I’m filthy.”

“It’s… kind of your own fault?” Hardhead said. “I mean, you did get yourself stuck in there.”

“Hello?” called a voice from the other side of the rock pile. “Who’s out there? Are you all okay? What happened?”

Chromedome peered over the rocks. “Bumblebee?”

“Yes, it’s me.” A light shone directly in Chromedome’s face. “Chromedome? What are you doing here?”

“We came to get you,” Chromedome explained.

“What?” Bumblebee exclaimed. There was some scuffling, and then the little Autobot was shimmying through the space between the top of the rock pile and the mine shaft ceiling. He slid down the other side and landed in front of Chromedome, Hardhead, and the seekers. “Is there an emergency? What happened? Do we need to go back right away?” Without waiting for an answer, he hit his comm link and said, “Jazz, Blurr, hurry up!”

“Uh, no,” Chromedome said, shaking his head, hands out in surrender. “No, no. There’s no emergency. We were, um, waiting for you guys to get back…”

“It was taking too long so they decided to come get you,” Thrust said.

“You were quite happy to come along if I remember correctly,” Chromedome retorted.

“Hey, we’re guests,” Thrust said. “We can’t be held accountable for any of this.”

“Yeah!” Ramjet agreed. His jet frame shuddered, and he complained, “Why can’t I transform?”

“It’s the dust,” Bumblebee said, and Dirge noticed that Bumblebee was also coated head to foot in dust. “It’s gotten into our mechanisms and clogged up our transformation cogs. That’s why we’re running late. It takes longer to get the materials back and forth when we can’t drive.” He sighed. “Did you come here without permission?”

“Maybe,” said Hardhead.

“Hey, Bee?” called another voice from down the tunnel. “What’s all this? We have a cave-in?”

Bumblebee turned around. “I guess so. Can you dig from that side and we’ll dig from this side? Is Blurr with you?”

“He’s coming with the last cartful of ore. Who’s we? Somebody else here?”

“Hi, Jazz!” Chromedome called.

“Uh, hi?”

“Let’s just get the tunnel cleared and then they can explain,” Bumblebee said. He gestured expectantly at the four bots standing behind him, and they immediately started working on the rock pile.

Optimus Prime was more concerned about the situation than Ultra Magnus had apparently been expecting, especially when he heard the coneheads had gone along. He told Ultra Magnus and Cyclonus that he’d personally speak to Chromedome and Hardhead when they returned.

“Then I will be talking to the seekers, I suppose,” Cyclonus said, not looking forward to it in the least. That was basically the entire reason he’d come to Earth—the Decepticons were better off not having to report to him as an authority figure. He’d let Galvatron’s cruelty go much too far, always thinking he could help him, that there was still a chance Galvatron could regain his sanity. He’d been wrong on both accounts.

“You are the Decepticon authority while you’re here,” Ultra Magnus agreed. They were walking back towards the city; Optimus was out in the airfield where Elita’s ship was parked.

A very loud engine pulled Cyclonus from his depressive musings, and he looked to see someone approaching them from the city in car mode. They were driving excessively fast. Ultra Magnus pointed to them and said to Cyclonus, “Watch out, here comes Hot Rod.”

Hot Rod screeched to a stop in front of them and transformed while doing a graceful little flip. “Heyyy, guys!” he said. “I heard something interesting happened.”

“Yes, Chromedome and Hardhead stole a shuttle and ran off to Aelen’s moon with three Decepticons,” Ultra Magnus said. He hadn’t stopped walking, so Hot Rod fell in step beside Cyclonus.

“Damn,” said Hot Rod. “And they didn’t invite me?”

“Heaven forbid,” was the reply.

“The matter is taken care of for the moment,” Cyclonus assured him. He wasn’t quite sure how to speak to Hot Rod. He knew that for some time, he’d been in charge of the Autobots, but now he seemed quite happy to be third in command. Or was it fourth? Cyclonus wasn’t even sure if the Autobots were adhering that firmly to ranks anymore. He supposed he was going to have to figure that out.

“Good, good… so, how do you like it here, Cyclonus?” Hot Rod patted his chest. “If you need help getting around, I’d be more than happy to show you.”

“Please stop flirting with Cyclonus,” Ultra Magnus said.

Hot Rod gasped. “I’m not! Would I do that? Never mind, yes, I would, but I’m not. I’m trying to be welcoming, that’s all. You know, in the interest of our truce.”

“Thank you for the offer,” said Cyclonus, who certainly hoped Hot Rod was telling the truth about not flirting, “but I have a map.”

“My offer stands in case your map doesn’t work.” Hot Rod flashed Cyclonus a smile. Ultra Magnus reached over and smacked the back of Hot Rod’s head. Cyclonus had no idea how to react to that. “Ow, Magnus,” Hot Rod complained. “Anyway, Cyclonus, tell me—how’s Skyfire doing? I know we’ve talked to him plenty of times since he left, but is everybody treating him all right over there?”

“Yes,” said Cyclonus. “He’s very well-liked.” In fact, Cyclonus couldn’t think of anyone on the base who _hadn’t_ warmed up to Skyfire by now.

Hot Rod nodded. “That’s because Skyfire is biggest, sweetest softie I’ve ever met.” He paused. “And he _really_ likes Starscream.”

“I’m aware,” was Cyclonus’ reply, because wasn’t _that_ obvious. “Everyone’s aware. Although they seem to know more about it than Scourge or I do.”

“Oh, they used to be very close,” Hot Rod said. “Way back before the war, they were partners at the science academy. They were both a little ostracized because they were the only jets in the whole place. Then one day, when they were exploring this very planet, they got separated and Skyfire disappeared. Turns out he was trapped in the ice under the arctic, and Starscream didn’t find him until four million years later. They kind of disagreed about what sides of the war to be on, and well…” Hot Rod shrugged.

“I… I see,” said Cyclonus. “You certainly know a lot of details.”

“I’m a good confidante,” Hot Rod declared.

“You’re a gossip,” Ultra Magnus said. “Don’t tell Hot Rod anything you don’t want the whole city knowing,” he warned Cyclonus.

“Rude,” Hot Rod muttered. “So, Cyclonus, where are you headed?”

“We’re about to review all our current Earth projects with Spike,” Ultra Magnus said. “There are a lot and I’m sure it’ll take a while, but you’re welcome to join us.”

“Oh, no,” Hot Rod said. “I’m meeting Tracks and Raoul in half an hour, but thanks anyway.” He smacked Ultra Magnus heartily on the back and ran away.

It didn’t take long for Starscream’s mood to sour again. He and Skyfire went back to the lab and picked up where they’d left off—testing high-temperature gas conversion. They’d done seven different tests last time and each one had yielded nothing useful.

This time, the fifth test they did melted right through the top of the table, and Starscream was exasperated. “Why won’t it _work?_ ” He said, stomping his foot.

“Let’s adjust the measurements and try again,” Skyfire said patiently. Starscream was brilliant, no doubt about that, but he was also normally more patient than this. After all, he’d told Skyfire how long it took him to design the planet converter—while simultaneously planning a coup, no less—and it was far longer than they’d spent on this project.

Of course, now he was actually leading the Decepticons and, as he’d confided to Skyfire (and _only_ Skyfire, thank you very much) he was anxious about doing it right.

They adjusted one component by half a milliliter and tried again. Everything evaporated in a cloud of dark blue smoke.

“Aargh!” Starscream shrieked. He snatched up one of the beakers and made to throw it across the room, but Skyfire gently plucked it from his grasp before he could do so.

“Maybe you should take a short recharge,” Skyfire suggested.

“Take a short—why? How’s _that_ going to help?”

“You’ll be able to think more clearly when you’re rested,” Skyfire said, careful of his wording this time. “It’s hard for anyone to work when they’re overtired, no matter how brilliant they are.”

Starscream stared up at him, and about twenty different emotions cycled across his face faster than Skyfire could read them. Then Starscream grabbed the beaker from Skyfire and threw it on the floor. It shattered impressively, shards of glass flying everywhere.

Skyfire was baffled. “Starscream, what—”

“I’m going to recharge!” Starscream yelled. “Like you said!” He turned and walked stiffly out of the lab.

Skyfire stood there for a moment trying to figure out if he’d said something wrong. Maybe Starscream was just irritable because he was stressed and tired. That made sense. Skyfire sighed and set about cleaning up the broken glass.

When he was finished he wandered around the base to see if anyone needed help with anything. He found Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, and Weirdwolf sitting around working on some welding that clearly didn’t require three people, but he asked if they needed any help anyway.

“Nah,” said Weirdwolf. “We’re good, thanks.”

Skyfire went down to the mess hall and found Rumble and Frenzy moving panels around on the wall. Rumble was standing on Frenzy’s shoulders and Frenzy was complaining about it.

“It’s your turn to hold _me_ up,” Frenzy said.

“Nuh-uh,” Rumble said. He was struggling to reach the top of the panel he was installing.

“Can I help?” Skyfire inquired. Rumble and Frenzy both turned around, which threw them off balance and sent them toppling to the floor.

“Yeah!” they replied at the same time, scrambling to their feet. Skyfire picked them up and stood next to the wall, where he held them both up, one on each arm. They set back to work happily.

“Thanks, Skyfire,” Rumble said when they were done. “You’re pretty cool for a big dope.”

“You’re welcome,” Skyfire said brightly. “Glad I could help.” He walked around some more, getting his assistance politely declined, until he rounded a corner and nearly crashed into a fuming Sixshot.

“Watch where you’re fucking go—oh, Skyfire.”

“Hello, Sixshot,” Skyfire said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to walk into you. I’ve just been sort of wandering around seeing if anyone needs any help.”

“Oh,” Sixshot said. “Well, I’m not doing _anything_ useful, and I’m not getting _anything_ done, and maybe if I didn’t have such an ‘attitude’—” Sixshot mockingly air-quoted with his fingers “—it wouldn’t be so fucking _difficult_ for everyone to work with me.”

“Um,” said Skyfire. “Are you all right?”

“You know what?” Sixshot said, putting his hands on his hips. “No. I’m not. Starscream just came down and chewed me out for five minutes straight because he was pissed off about something I didn’t even do.”

“Oh,” said Skyfire. “Just now?” he asked, because he had actually hoped Starscream was resting.

“Like ten minutes ago,” Sixshot said. “It’s been getting worse, you know.” He looked pointedly at Skyfire.

Skyfire wasn’t sure what Sixshot was getting at. “You mean the way he… talks to you?”

“Yes,” said Sixshot. “For the past week he’s been _way_ more of an asshole than usual.”

“I… well,” said Skyfire. “Maybe Soundwave and Cyclonus could speak to him about it?”

“ _Listen_ ,” said Sixshot. “How about _you_ talk to him about it?”

“I can try,” Skyfire said reluctantly. He didn’t know much about why Starscream and Sixshot were so at odds in the first place. “But why me?”

“Um, because he’ll do whatever you say,” Sixshot said, in an _isn’t-it-obvious_ tone.

Skyfire was so surprised by that that he left out a soft laugh. “I don’t think so. Why do you say that?”

“He’s _clearly_ infatuated with you.”

Okay, Sixshot was obviously misinterpreting Skyfire and Starscream’s relationship. “Oh… oh, no,” Skyfire said hurriedly. “We’re only friends.”

Sixshot stared at Skyfire suspiciously. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, we’ve only ever been friends,” Skyfire said. “I’m sure if he was interested he would have done something about it a long time ago.” Saying it out loud hurt, but it was the truth. If there was one constant about Starscream, it was that he always went after what he wanted.

“Fuck. You are serious.” Sixshot pushed Skyfire a few steps down the hall. “Get in my office.”

The doorway to Sixshot’s office was just barely big enough for Skyfire to fit through, and he had to turn sideways and wiggle a little to get in. Once inside, Sixshot steered him to a chair and plopped him down so they were eye level. He crossed him arms and glared at Skyfire. Skyfire had absolutely no idea what he’d done to get Sixshot even more riled up, but before he could say anything to maybe defuse the situation, Sixshot started speaking, clearly and firmly.

“Okay, first of all,” Sixshot said, “I hate Starscream so goddamn you for making me do this.” Skyfire’s optics widened, and Sixshot barreled on. “He is absolutely, positively _smitten_ with you. He’s pining so hard I’m surprised trees haven’t sprouted up all over the base. And it’s OBVIOUS.”

No, no, that wasn’t right. Skyfire opened his mouth. “I—”

Sixshot immediately held up a hand. “Don’t interrupt me! _And_ , you can ask anyone on this entire planet and they will tell you the exact same thing. Because as good as Starscream is at scheming, lying, plotting, and _who’d have thought_ , actually running things well, he is absolutely miserable at hiding his feelings for you. And frankly it’s kind of gross. Now go fucking talk to him.” Sixshot jabbed his finger at the office door.

“But—” Skyfire tried, baffled. He could ask everyone on the base and they’d all say that? Seriously?

“No buts!” Sixshot yelled. “Because the more frustrated Starscream gets about this, the bigger an asshole he is to _me_ , and if somebody doesn’t do something soon I’m gonna beat him to scrap.”

“O-Okay,” Skyfire said, defeated. “I’ll talk to him.” He hoped there was a way to bring the subject up without betraying his own feelings and ruining his and Starscream’s friendship, because he was having a very hard time believing Sixshot. He knew Starscream—and he knew Starscream cared about him, which in itself was rare enough, but Starscream also never shied away from voicing his opinions. If he’d wanted their relationship to be like _that_ , he’d have said something.

Skyfire left Sixshot’s office and headed to Starscream’s (supposing he probably wasn’t in his quarters), his thoughts warring. Surely Sixshot was mistaken… right? Skyfire thought _he_ was the one doing all the obvious pining.

Starscream was indeed in his office. He looked up when Skyfire walked in (the doorway to Starscream’s office was much larger than necessary) and said, “Yes?”

Skyfire sighed. “Starscream, you’re supposed to be resting.”

“Well, I’m in charge, so I get to decide,” Starscream replied, being stubborn as usual. “Did you need something?”

Skyfire carefully closed the office door. “Can we talk?”

Starscream eyed Skyfire, looking suspicious. “Didn’t we already?”

“Yes, but this is about something else.”

“Okay… what?”

“Well, I talked to Sixshot,” Skyfire began, and immediately realized that was the wrong thing to start with, because Starscream scowled. Skyfire tried to keep going. “And he told me that—”

Starscream slammed his hands down on his desk and stood up. “Stop right there! Whatever he told you, it’s probably a lie. He has it out for me, and now he’s trying to get you too? That fucking dick! Where is he?” Starscream stomped over to the office door and yanked it open, causing the several Decepticons—Rumble, Frenzy, and Swindle—who were gathered outside it to scatter. “Scram, you nosy little shits! Hoping for a show, huh? I don’t know what Sixshot told Skyfire, but I’m about to set it straight.” Starscream started down the hall, looking livid.

“Now Starscream, hang on,” Skyfire said, hurrying after him.

Starscream spun around and jabbed a finger at Skyfire. “No, no you don’t understand. He _hates_ me. You can’t trust what he tells you.”

“No—listen—I mean, he did tell me that he hates you, but—” Oh scrap. Skyfire really had to stop putting his foot in his mouth.

“See!” Starscream screeched. He transformed into jet mode right there in the hallway and blasted off towards Sixshot’s office, completely incinerating some nearby plastic sheeting with his engines.

“Starscream!” Skyfire called helplessly. He ran after Starscream, and the group of eavesdroppers followed right behind him.

By the time they caught up, Starscream and Sixshot were standing outside Sixshot’s office arguing loudly.

“—sick of this!” Starscream was saying. “If you don’t want me as leader you can just leave!”

“You asshole!” Sixshot yelled. “I’m trying to help you!”

“Help me?” Starscream scoffed. “ _You?_ You hate me and everyone knows it!”

Skyfire honestly had no idea what to do, and the argument had attracted Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher, and Mindwipe (who were always up for watching a fight).

Sixshot was dangerously close to losing his temper. “You’re right!” he snapped. “I fucking hate you! But you’re _not_ a bad leader, your personality’s just garbage!”

“Hah!” said Starscream. “That’s rich coming from a bot with the personality of a flaming pile of fleshling shit.”

Sixshot let out a frustrated growl. “At least I’m not so fucking stupid I can’t tell Skyfire’s in love with me when the whole base knows!”

Ah, so his pining was obvious, Skyfire thought. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Soundwave had joined Rumble, Frenzy, and Swindle. The latter three seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, and right after Sixshot said that Rumble and Frenzy let out a little “OoOOooh!”

Starscream blinked. “He’s—he’s not in love with you.”

“Of course not you blithering idiot!” Sixshot shouted. “He’s in love with _you_ and you’re so goddamn dense you’re making me miserable!”

Starscream clenched his fists and, Skyfire noticed, pointedly did not look in his direction. “ _What_ does that _mean?_ ”

Sixshot threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t make it any more straightforward, you dumbass jet! It’s either that or you’re too chicken to do anything about it!”

“You—the NERVE!” Starscream fumed. “The PRESUMPTION. I’ll knock that smug head right off your body!”

Sixshot shook his fist at Starscream. “Just try it, you stupid little piss baby!”

“Gladly!” Starscream lunged forward and Skyfire, deciding this was probably about to go a little too far, grabbed Starscream around the waist and lifted him right off his feet, backing away from Sixshot. Starscream, undeterred, pointed both of his arm cannons at Sixshot and fired.

Sixshot dodged the blasts, transforming into gun mode. He aimed at Starscream… but he didn’t shoot. Nobody moved, and after a minute Sixshot said, “Goddamn it,” and transformed back.

Starscream angrily kicked his feet. “Put me down Skyfire!”

“I’m sorry, but not yet,” Skyfire said, tightening his hold. “You both need to calm down.”

“I am calm!” Starscream yelled, pounding his fists on Skyfire’s arm. Soundwave took the opportunity to step strategically between Starscream and Sixshot.

“Awww,” Mindwipe said, disappointed that there wouldn’t be a fight.

Skyfire was waiting for Starscream to stop squirming—he was now trying to bite Skyfire’s hand—before setting him back down. Sixshot, despite getting more worked up than Starscream had, seemed to have completely deflated.

“Hey, you dumbasses,” Sixshot spoke up, addressing their Decepticon audience. “Answer me one question, would you?” Starscream stopped wriggling and narrowed his optics at Sixshot.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Swindle said, and the rest of them nodded along.

Sixshot pointed accusingly at Starscream and Skyfire. “Is it glaringly, painfully obvious to everyone that those two are over the moons for each other?”

“Oh, yeah,” Skullcruncher said.

“Absolutely,” said Weirdwolf.

“No doubt about it,” Frenzy agreed.

Rumble nodded “Yep.”

“Yes,” said Swindle.

“Uh-huh,” Mindwipe said.

“Thank you,” Sixshot said. He spun around, marched into his office, and slammed the door. One of the handles fell off.

“Skyfire!” Starscream screeched. “Take me back to my office _right now!_ ” Skyfire obliged, turning and running off down the hall with Starscream still in his arms.

“So,” said Jazz. “Now that we’ve finally got this tunnel cleared, you cats care to tell me what’s happening?”

Before anyone else could say anything, though, Blurr immediately started talking. “Oh! Hardhead! I-didn’t-know-you-were-here-but-it’s-nice-to-see-you-I-always-like-seeing-you-you-know-oh-but-be-careful-the-dust-on-this-moon-gets-all-in-your-gears-and-you-can’t-transform-and-it’s-a-real-pain-so-we’ve-been-hauling-these-mining-carts-back-and-forth-on-foot-and-it’s-taking-a-lot-longer-so-we’re-running-a-little-late-getting-back-to-Earth…”

Hardhead waited patiently until Blurr was done babbling, then said, “Hi, Blurr.”

“Now, Blurr, we need to hear from these guys what they’re doing here,” Bumblebee said quickly. Blurr nodded and didn’t say anything else.

Everyone looked at Chromedome, since it had been his idea, and he sheepishly explained the entire situation, including crashing the shuttle they’d “borrowed”.

“Really?” Jazz said, sounding disappointed. “And you had to drag these three into it?” He gestured at the coneheads.

“We are supposed to be picking up the ore…” Dirge said, trying to be helpful.

“I’m not gonna lecture you three,” Jazz told him. “That’s outside my jurisdiction. Let’s just head on back to Earth.”

“It’s going to be a bit of a tight squeeze,” Bumblebee warned them. “Since everyone will have to ride in our shuttle.”

Ramjet sighed. “Since I can’t transform anyway, I suppose I could just fly back.”

“Ramjet, no,” said Dirge.

“We’re going through space,” Chromedome said at the same time. “You can’t fly in space, can you? You’re a jet.”

“Oh. Right,” said Ramjet. “I forgot.”

“Did you forget that we have to go through space or that you can’t fly in space?” Hardhead wondered.

“Both, I guess,” said Ramjet. “Can we go now? I really don’t like being stuck in one mode. It’s making me antsy.”

“Yes, yes, let’s go.” Bumblebee herded them all out of the mine entrance. Hardhead went to help Blurr with the ore cart, and Blurr immediately started talking again. He chattered nonstop the entire walk back to the Autobots’ shuttle. Blurr spoke so quickly that Dirge couldn’t understand most of what he was saying, but Hardhead seemed to be having no problem and was occasionally shaking his head _yes_ or _no._

The shuttle was indeed a tight squeeze once they all boarded; Dirge found himself sandwiched between Chromedome and Thrust, but he supposed if he had to share close quarters with an Autobot, Chromedome wasn’t the worst one to pick. Poor Ramjet had Jazz gingerly sitting on one wing.

The trip back to Autobot City was quick—up to space, through the space bridge, and down to the Earth’s surface.

Unsurprisingly, both Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus were waiting for them in the shuttle bay, along with Cyclonus.

“Uh oh,” said Thrust. “Cyclonus is there too. I think we might be in trouble.”

“Oh, you think?” said Bumblebee.

“Welcome back,” Optimus said when they all climbed out of the shuttle. “Jazz, Bumblebee, Blurr, I trust everything went well?”

“Everything that we were doing, yeah,” said Jazz. “There’s a broken shuttle on Aelen’s moon that we probably oughtta go get back.”

Ultra Magnus’s mouth dropped open slightly, and he said incredulously to Chromedome and Hardhead, “Did you _crash_ the shuttle?”

“It’s a possibility,” said Hardhead.

Optimus sighed, and began speaking in a tone that clearly said _I’m very disappointed_. “Hardhead. Chromedome. I know you both understand that this truce is still a work in progress. This is not acceptable behavior, and you cannot be bringing these Decepticons into it. It was very reckless, and someone could have been injured, or worse.”

Hardhead and Chromedome looked at the floor. “Yes, sir.”

Cyclonus turned to the coneheads. “Ramjet, why are you in jet mode?”

“I can’t transform!” Ramjet wailed miserably. “That moon was full of awful dust.”

“It’s true!” Blurr piped up. “It-got-all-in-our-cogs-and-we’re-all-stuck-in-robot-mode-and-we-really-need-to-go-wash-up-but-maybe-you-could-let-him-wash-up-too-before-you-lecture-him-because-he-seems-pretty-anxious-and-I-understand-how-that-is-I-get-anxious-a-lot-and-it’s-probably-more-annoying-to-be-stuck-in-your-alt-mode-honestly-because-it’s-harder-to-get-around-indoors-and-I-bet-that-goes-doubly-for-him-because-he’s-a-plane-I-can-already-think-of-twenty-doorways-he’s-gonna-have-trouble-going-through.”

Dirge was pretty sure Cyclonus didn’t catch half of that, because he glanced at Optimus and Ultra Magnus, and shook his head just the tiniest bit.

“Of course you can go wash up,” Ultra Magnus said hurriedly. “You are still guests after all. Just come see Cyclonus afterwards. Blurr, can you show them to the washrooms?”

“Oh-yes-I-can-do-that-sure-no-problem-sure-sure-sure.” Blurr trotted out of the shuttle bay and coneheads quickly followed him, glad to have delayed their scolding.

“Think we’re in a lot of trouble?” Dirge asked as they hurried to keep up with Blurr.

“Nah,” said Thrust. “Cyclonus didn’t look too annoyed. And why would Starscream be mad at us? We were actually getting along with Autobots!”

“Hey, that’s true,” Ramjet said, sounding impressed.

Not sure he’d be able to understand the whole answer but really wanting to ask, Dirge said to Blurr, “Do Chromedome and Hardhead get in trouble a lot?”

Blurr immediately launched into a reply that Dirge picked up on at least half of, which meant he was getting better at deciphering the Autobot’s speech patterns, wasn’t he? Good job, he told himself. Blurr did not stop talking until they reached the washrooms, and from what Dirge understood, Hardhead and Chromedome _did_ get into trouble rather often, and frequently it was for the same type of thing—barging ahead with whatever they wanted and not asking permission—and Blurr was sometimes dragged into it because he and Hardhead appeared to be dating or something.

In other words, the Autobots sounded like they’d be kind of fun to hang out with. Dirge pondered the thought of making friends with them, and maybe Thrust and Ramjet were thinking about it too, because they were all pretty quiet while they helped Ramjet clean up.

“Oh, thank _Primus!_ ” was the first thing Ramjet said as soon as he was able to transform back to robot mode. “I thought I was going to _die._ ” He transformed a couple more times, and Dirge and Thrust gave him some sympathetic shoulder pats. “Okay, okay, I’m all right.”

“We’re off to see Cyclonus, then,” Thrust said. The three of them stepped out of the washrooms, didn’t see Blurr anywhere, and realized they had no idea how to find Cyclonus.

Cyclonus was in Ultra Magnus’s office, making a call. Ultra Magnus had obligingly stepped out to give him his requested privacy, and Cyclonus had locked the door for good measure.

Scourge had been expecting the call, so he answered right away. “Hi, Cyclonus.”

“Hello, Scourge,” Cyclonus said, immediately feeling more at ease. He’d always felt like Scourge understood him more than anyone else. Sometimes he felt it was a twisted sort of kinship—they were both reconstructed from other bots by Unicron, and not in the same way Galvatron had been. They’d probably never understand it, but Cyclonus thought that he, Scourge, and the Sweeps weren’t made from just one person like Galvatron had been, and in some odd way that made them more individual. Galvatron was mostly Megatron. Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps were not mostly anyone, and in that way were more their own selves. It was something strange that Cyclonus could really only talk to Scourge about, and in doing so he’d found that there were a lot of other things he could talk to Scourge about too.

“How are you settling in over there?” Scourge asked. “I hear there’s trouble already.”

“Not major trouble,” Cyclonus replied. “I’m expected to speak to the seekers about it though. How is it going there since I left?”

“You mean since this morning?” Scourge asked gently.

Cyclonus knew Scourge had a point, but he still said, “Yes.”

“Well, just a bit ago, Starscream and Sixshot got in a big fight,” Scourge said. “There was a lot of yelling. It’s been building up for a while, though. You know.”

Cyclonus did know. It had been getting slightly worse since Starscream took over and Skyfire arrived. Starscream’s frustration levels had skyrocketed and he seemed to be taking it all out on Sixshot. It had only been a matter of time before the situation exploded. “Did… Was anyone hurt?” Cyclonus asked.

“No,” Scourge assured him. “Soundwave and Skyfire stopped it before it went too far.”

“Oh. That’s good.” They were managing just fine without him, then, which was a relief. “What about everyone else? How are they?”

“Fine,” Scourge said. “Again, since this morning.”

“Has anyone said they’re glad I’m gone?” Cyclonus pressed.

“No, Cyclonus,” Scourge said. “I really don’t think anyone is going to. I know you left because you think we’re better off without you, but I’m pretty sure nobody else thinks that. _I_ don’t think that.”

Cyclonus felt guilt clawing at his spark. It wasn’t really fair to Scourge to burden him with all of this. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I’ve been dumping a lot on you.”

“It’s okay,” Scourge said quickly. “I don’t mind listening. But, Cyclonus, are you going to be all right?”

Cyclonus wasn’t sure. Maybe he was wrong, and none of the Decepticons hated him, but he was second in command, and he’d… he’d cared about Galvatron, and they knew that. Wasn’t it bad enough that they’d look at him and see someone who’d sympathized with their ruthless, brutal leader? It was better to be on Earth either way. “I don’t know, Scourge,” he said.

Scourge studied Cyclonus for a moment, then said, “Well, just focus on your new duties. It will keep you occupied. We can chat every day if you’d like. I don’t know how much help I’ll be but I’ll try.”

Cyclonus was pretty sure he didn’t deserve Scourge. “Thank you,” he said. “Really. You’re a very good friend, Scourge.”

Scourge beamed, and he looked so positively pleased that Cyclonus couldn’t help but smile. Then someone knocked on the office door and his smile immediately dropped. “Looks like you’ve got business to attend to,” Scourge said. “I know Soundwave is waiting for an update from the Autobots, too. I’ll let you get back to work. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“All right,” Cyclonus agreed. “I’ll see you later, Scourge.” He ended the call and got up to see who was knocking on Ultra Magnus’s office door.

It was Blitzwing. “Oh, Cyclonus,” he said. “Is Ultra Magnus in here?”

“Not currently,” Cyclonus said. His gaze flickered to the Blitzwing’s Decepticon badge. Technically, the triple-changer had been kicked out, and he’d been living in Autobot City for a while, but he wasn’t an Autobot. Cyclonus wondered if he was expected to have any authority over former Decepticon refugees. Probably not, but he said, “Is it anything I can help with?”

“Uh,” said Blitzwing, “It’s kind of an Autobot problem. I mean, it’s an Autobot who is the problem.”

Cyclonus nodded, and activated his comm link. “Ultra Magnus. I am finished with my call. Blitzwing is at the office to see you.”

“I’m on my way. Thank you,” Ultra Magnus answered.

Cyclonus and Blitzwing stood awkwardly in the doorway for a minute before Cyclonus stepped back and gestured for the triple-changer to come in. Blitzwing perched on one of the chairs and twiddled his thumbs.

“May I ask,” Cyclonus said slowly, “How is Astrotrain?”

Blitzwing seemed confused. “Fine. He was here earlier, remember?”

“Yes,” Cyclonus said. “But… is he all right with me being here?”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Blitzwing asked suspiciously.

“I…” Cyclonus knew he’d spoken to Octane a couple of weeks ago about Galvatron, and Cyclonus’s inaction regarding Galvatron’s abuse. He’d thought Octane had probably passed that information along to Blitzwing and Astrotrain, since they had been on an intelligence mission. So he said, “Astrotrain often bore the brunt of Galvatron’s anger.” Mainly that had been because Galvatron thought Astrotrain was useless except for his alt mode. So Astrotrain was constantly used as transportation for missions, and consequently, was constantly in Galvatron’s general vicinity. 

Blitzwing stiffened, and a frown settled on his face. “I’m aware.”

“I… allowed that to go on,” Cyclonus said. Blitzwing just stared at him. Maybe Scourge was right.

“Galvatron was batshit-motherfucking-crazy,” Blitzwing said. “I’m super glad he’s dead. And Astrotrain doesn’t blame you for anything Galvatron did. If you really want to know if he’s all right with you being here, you can ask him directly.”

That was the approach Cyclonus had been avoiding. Asking anyone directly. It was probably time he bit the bullet and just did it. “All right, I shall,” he said.

Blitzwing stood up, stepped in front of Cyclonus, and placed a hand on his arm. “If you do anything to upset him,” Blitzwing said, “I’ll kill you.”

Blitzwing seemed utterly serious, and Cyclonus thought that was fair, so he replied, “Understood.”

The door swished open and Ultra Magnus came in. “Blitzwing,” he said. “I apologize, but Optimus wants Cyclonus and me in the communications room. Your issue will have to wait.”

“What?” Blitzwing complained.

“If you like, you can write a report.” Ultra Magnus gestured to his desk. “I’ll read it when I get back.”

“It was Slingshot again,” Blitzwing grumbled. “What do I do, write down everything he did?”

“Yes, please be thorough,” Ultra Magnus said. “Come on, Cyclonus.”

Blitzwing plopped himself down at the desk as Cyclonus followed Ultra Magnus out the door, and Cyclonus heard him mumble, “I’ll make it thorough all right.”

As soon as they got back to Starscream’s office, Skyfire let go of Starscream, and the first thing Starscream did was go to his desk, retrieve a small handheld device, and turn it on.

A loud, annoying beeping noise began emitting from it, and Starscream adjusted the volume slightly and set the device by the door.

“What is that?” Skyfire asked.

“A repurposed fire detector,” Starscream replied. “To foil snooping little shitheads.”

“Ah,” said Skyfire, not surprised at all that Starscream had had that in his desk and ready to go. But they had other things that needed to be addressed. Immediately, preferably. Like Starscream possibly being in love with him. “Um, so…”

Starscream rounded on him and jabbed a finger at Skyfire’s chest. “Before you say anything, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it. I don’t care what you think the consequences are going to be.”

Skyfire nodded nervously. “All right.”

“Are you in love with me?” Starscream demanded.

There it was. “Yes,” Skyfire said. And because this was probably important, he added, “Since before the war.”

Starscream looked like he was about to blow a circuit. “Why didn’t you _say_ anything?”

“I didn’t think you felt the same,” Skyfire admitted. “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship and lose you.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the fear of losing Starscream—again—flared up, and Skyfire quickly continued, “I’m fine with being friends if that’s what you want. I don’t want this to change anything.”

“Well _I_ fucking do,” Starscream said. “Because I’m in love with you too.”

Well. That made it official. This was the best day of Skyfire’s life. “I… didn’t think it was true,” he said, and he knew he was now grinning stupidly. “I thought… I thought you’d have said something a long time ago. You always go after what you want, Starscream.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Starscream retorted. “Because I didn’t know if _you_ felt the same way.”

“Oh, wow,” Skyfire said. “Were you… were you being considerate of my feelings? Really?”

“I know, right?” said Starscream. “Me? Who’d have thought. But I should have expected it from _you_ , you big, stupid lug.” Starscream clambered on top of his desk and stood up so he and Skyfire were almost eye-to-eye. “Are we on the same page here, then? Both happy with this development?”

“Oh, yes,” Skyfire said. “I’m positively delighted.”

“Good,” said Starscream, and he grabbed Skyfire’s shoulders and yanked him into a kiss.

Skyfire reciprocated, happily but gently, and oh, he’d wanted this for so long. He wrapped his arms around Starscream, and pulled him closer, and thought he could probably just stand here kissing Starscream for the rest of the day.

Starscream pulled away and shoved Skyfire backwards, and Skyfire had just long enough to think _oh no he didn’t like it_ before the back of his knees hit one of the chairs and he sat down heavily. But then Starscream slid off the desk, climbed right into Skyfire’s lap, and eagerly pulled their mouths back together. Never mind, this was fine. This was more than fine, it was pure bliss.

Skyfire lost track of time for a little bit, and although he was thoroughly enjoying himself, the incessant beeping of Starscream’s anti-eavesdropping machine in the background was getting a little annoying. “Maybe,” he said to Starscream when they paused for a moment, “We can continue later somewhere more comfortable?”

“I’m plenty comfortable,” Starscream said, but he got off Skyfire’s lap anyway. The beeping must have been irritating him as well, because he went over to shut it off. He stood there for a moment grimacing at the office door before opening it.

There was no one outside except for Laserbeak, who was waiting outside on the opposite side of the hall. “Hello, Laserbeak,” Skyfire greeted him.

“Hi,” said Laserbeak. “Soundwave told me to tell you that the Autobots are waiting for us to call them.”

Starscream frowned. “They are? How long have they been waiting?”

Laserbeak shrugged his wings. “A while.”

“Why didn’t you knock?” Starscream said, annoyed.

Laserbeak just stared at him.

Starscream’s face heated up impressively. “Never mind,” he mumbled. “Let’s go.” He pushed Skyfire off towards the communications room.

Sixshot wasn’t present when they arrived. Soundwave merely said that Sixshot had decided to skip this call, but Skyfire’s guess was that Soundwave had told him not to come in order to avoid any possible conflict. Starscream and Sixshot were going to have to settle things at some point.

Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Cyclonus answered as soon as the Decepticons sent the communication.

“Our team has returned with the ore shipment,” Optimus informed them. “Along with your seeker team. Everyone’s in one piece, and we’ll be sending them off shortly.”

“Good. Sounds like you have everything under control then?” Starscream said. Skyfire could tell he was trying not to sound impatient.

Before any of the Autobots could answer, the door to their communications room banged open and the three coneheads came running in, followed by Hot Rod and Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper was shouting at Hot Rod, who was holding a blaster over his head out of Cliffjumper’s reach.

“Starscream!” Thrust said excitedly. “Guess what! We just got chased around by an Autobot with a blaster and we didn’t even shoot him!”

“Not once!” Ramjet added.

“Wonderful,” Starscream drawled. “Now why was an Autobot chasing my seekers around?”

Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and Cyclonus all turned to Hot Rod and Cliffjumper. “He’s just kind of dumb, sorry,” Hot Rod said. “They all happened to run into me, but don’t worry, I took his blaster away.”

“They’re Decepticons!” Cliffjumper yelled. “It’s not my fault, it’s a reasonable reaction!”

“Cliffjumper, please go to your quarters,” Optimus said firmly. “Ultra Magnus will speak to you later.”

“Oh, come on, Optimus,” Ultra Magnus pleaded.

“What?” Optimus said innocently. He said to the coneheads, “Are you all spic-and-span and ready to go?”

“I don’t know what that means, but probably?” said Dirge.

“You really need to get your people under control, Optimus,” Starscream said gleefully. “To think that Autobots staying at the Decepticon base have less to worry about that Decepticons staying at Autobot City.”

“We all have our troublemakers,” Optimus said.

“Yeah, you just had a big fight earlier,” Rumble piped up.

“Shut up, Rumble!” Starscream yelled. “They don’t need to know that.”

“Did it involve any Autobots?” Ultra Magnus asked.

“I was there,” Skyfire offered. “But I wasn’t fighting.”

“And you weren’t planning on telling us about this?” Optimus asked Starscream.

“No—I—er—” Starscream looked helplessly to Soundwave.

“No one was injured,” Soundwave said. “And the altercation was of a personal nature. We did not know if Skyfire wanted the information shared.”

“Ohh, personal?” Hot Rod said. “Juicy. Who was fighting about what?”

“Hot Rod, shush,” said Ultra Magnus.

“Sixshot and Starscream were fighting,” Frenzy said. “About him and Skyfire.” He pointed to Starscream.

“Frenzy, quiet,” Soundwave said. “We have the matter well in hand,” he said to the Autobots.

“Wait,” said Hot Rod. He was studying Skyfire carefully. “Skyfire. Did you finally…? You and Starscream?”

Skyfire was embarrassed, but he was also pretty happy, and he did kind of want to share his happy news. He nodded shyly.

“OMG, yassss,” said Hot Rod. “Get it, girl.”

“Please stop,” Ultra Magnus whispered.

“Ah!” said Optimus. “I see you’ve been studying Earth sayings as well.”

“Yes, well!” Starscream squeaked. “Thank you for the update! If there’s nothing else important, we’ll just end this goddamn call!”

Cyclonus, who hadn’t said a single word yet during the entire exchange, spoke up. “We’ll let you know as soon as the seekers leave.”

Soundwave nodded. “Then we will talk to you later. Goodbye.” He ended the communication.

Starscream immediately spun around to Rumble and Frenzy, who shrieked with laughter and took off running. Starscream stomped his foot angrily. “Soundwave! Do something with your brats!” Soundwave didn’t reply, he just hurried out after the twins.

Skyfire watched him go, then turned to Starscream and said, “You never did go recharge, did you?”

Starscream crossed his arms. “No.”

“How about if we both go recharge?” Skyfire suggested. “We can go to my quarters. My bed’s big enough for two.”

“Is it?” Starscream said. “I only told them to make sure you had one big enough for you.”

“I’m fairly sure it is,” Skyfire said. “Come on, let’s go see.” He placed a hand on the back of Starscream’s wings and gently steered him towards the door. Surprisingly, Starscream went without protest.

Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet were amazed. “Starscream’s seeing an Autobot?”

“It’s been quite a long time coming, too,” said Optimus Prime, turning to leave. “But I believe Cyclonus needs to have words with you three, so I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Hair?” Ramjet echoed.

“An Earth phrase,” Ultra Magnus said. “Hot Rod, once Cyclonus is finished with the seekers, could you show them back to their shuttle, please? We’ve already loaded the ore on board. I would, but Blitzwing is waiting in my office.”

“I’ll bet Slingshot was bothering him again,” Hot Rod said. “I _suppose_ I can show them out, since I’m here.”

“Very generous of you, thanks,” said Ultra Magnus, and then he was out the door.

The seekers turned to Cyclonus, who didn’t exactly look like he wanted to be lecturing them at all. “It was very reckless to go off with those Autobots,” he said. “We don’t want to do anything that could disrupt this truce. Please use better judgement next time.”

Even though none of them were quite sure what he meant, they all nodded, and he sent them on their way.

“What did he mean by ‘judgement’?” Dirge asked as they followed Hot Rod along.

“Hell if I know,” said Thrust. “Hey, Hot Rod?”

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“It’s Thrust. We need to go see Chromedome and Hardhead before we go. Do you know where they are?” Dirge glanced at him, confused. Thrust put a finger to his lips. Dirge really had no idea what Thrust was getting at, and judging by the look on Ramjet’s face, neither did he.

“Yeah, they got sent to their rooms,” Hot Rod said. He stopped short and took a hard left. “This way.”

Chromedome looked surprised when he opened his door and saw Hot Rod and three Decepticons standing outside. “What’s going on?”

“Can we come in for a minute?” Thrust asked.

“I guess,” Chromedome said, and stepped aside to let the three seekers in. Thrust shut the door in Hot Rod’s face.

“Rude!” Hot Rod yelled from outside.

“Sorry!” Thrust yelled back. “Private meeting!”

“Why are you guys here?” Chromedome asked. “Aren’t you leaving? Did you get in trouble with Starscream?”

“No, no,” Thrust said. “I mean, I think we sort of got in trouble. Cyclonus said some stern-sounding things. And yes, we are leaving, but I had a great idea!”

“Okay?” Chromedome said, and waited expectantly. So did Dirge and Ramjet, since they had no idea what Thrust was going on about.

“Well, I know you got in trouble for it, but I thought the trip we took was pretty fun,” Thrust said.

“It _was_ kind of fun,” Dirge agreed.

“It was until I got stuck in jet mode,” Ramjet said.

“So, I thought I’d ask,” Thrust went on, “Do you and Hardhead want to come back to Chaar with us and hang out for a few days? Hot Rod said you’re stuck in your rooms, so that’s got to be boring.”

“It is boring,” Chromedome said. “And you know what, that actually does sound kinda fun. Sure. Should I meet you at your ship, or is Hot Rod on board with this?”

“I shut the door in his face, so, no, he doesn’t know.”

“Got it.” Chromedome gave Thrust a thumbs-up. “See you in a little bit, then!”

Hot Rod looked mildly annoyed when Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet came back out. “You could have just said you wanted some privacy for your goodbyes,” he complained. “I’ll forgive you this once.” He gestured for them to follow him, and a couple of minutes later they arrived at Hardhead’s room.

Hardhead was just as confused to see them as Chromedome had been, but also had the same reaction to Thrust’s idea. With one addition. “Can I bring Blurr along?”

“If you help translate what he says,” was Thrust’s reply.

After confirming that Hardhead and Blurr would also meet them at their ship, the seekers rejoined Hot Rod and he continued escorting them through the city.

“So you guys made friends, huh?” Hot Rod said. “Nice.”

Dirge looked at his companions, optics wide. “Did we?”

Ramjet spent probably too long thinking about it before he said, uncertainly, “I think we did?”

“I think we did,” Thrust said, sounding a little more sure. “Starscream ought to be impressed with that, right?”

“I’m kind of impressed with that, honestly,” Hot Rod told them. “Good job.”

“Thanks,” said Dirge.

“Anyway, there’s your shuttle, all set to go!” Hot Rod opened the door in front of them and pointed outside. “It was nice to meet you, even though you shut a door in my face.”

“Okay, bye,” said Thrust, and the seekers jogged outside to their ship. They climbed on board, met their co-conspirators, and found that there was even less room than there had been on the way there. The shuttle was not only loaded with cargo, but there were six Cybertronians crammed inside instead of four.

“You didn’t say it was going to be such a tight squeeze,” Chromedome complained. “I hope the trip isn’t too long.”

“We’re taking the space bridge,” Dirge assured him, sitting down in front of the controls.

“Space bridge?” Blurr repeated. “Why-are-we-taking-the-space-bridge-we-already-went-through-the-space-bridge-twice-today-are-we-going-somewhere-really-far-away-is-it-going-to-take-awhile-I-mean-I’m-not-saying-I-don’t-want-to-go-but-where-exactly-are-we-going?”

Ramjet was struggling to process all of that. “Did he say he doesn’t know where we’re going?”

“Yeah,” said Chromedome. “I guess Hardhead didn’t tell him. To be fair, Blurr, Hardhead doesn’t tell you where we’re going half the time and you still come along anyway.”

Blurr apparently had no rebuttal for that. He just glanced up at Hardhead. “We’re going to Chaar,” Hardhead said.

It took two minutes more, during which Dirge had launched the shuttle, before Blurr started chattering again, this time peppering Hardhead with questions. Dirge wondered if it was possible to tune him out.

Blurr’s babbling abruptly stopped, and Ramjet said, “I guess that’s one way to shut him up.” Dirge glanced over his shoulder and, much to his embarrassment, saw that Hardhead and Blurr were kissing. He quickly turned back around and focused on piloting.

There was a beep to indicate an incoming call, and Dirge answered it as audio only. Kup’s voice came through into the shuttle’s cabin. “Hey, Decepticons! I’m opening the space bridge now. Happy trails!”

“Thanks, Kup!” Chromedome said cheerfully.

There was a pause, and right as they entered the space bridge Kup said, “…Chromedome?”

Since Ultra Magnus was using their office (Cyclonus supposed he ought to think of it as that) to speak to Blitzwing, Cyclonus asked Astrotrain where might be a good place to talk. Astrotrain said Cyclonus could come to his and Blitzwing’s quarters, so that’s where Cyclonus found himself after leaving the communications room.

The room was a bit messy, in Cyclonus’s opinion, but that was probably just because he preferred things extremely organized. There was a desk against one wall with a large electronic board behind it, covered with scribbles of various diagrams and what looked like battle strategies. The desk itself was piled with papers that didn’t seem to be in any order at all.

“That’s Blitzwing’s project,” Astrotrain said, seeing Cyclonus staring at it. “Optimus got him to play basketball one time, and then he went researching football again, and now he says he’s making improvements to the games so they make more sense for Cybertronians.” Astrotrain shrugged. “He’s not actually making much progress. He keeps starting over. But he’s having fun.”

“Hm,” said Cyclonus. Casual conversational skills had never been his strong suit.

“I guess you didn’t come here to talk about that,” Astrotrain said. There was a long bench on the opposite side of the room from the desk. Astrotrain sat down and gestured for Cyclonus to as well.

“No,” said Cyclonus, carefully sitting on one end of the bench. “I wanted to… this is rather personal, and you have no obligation to respond…”

“Okay?” said Astrotrain.

Cyclonus clasped his hands in his lap and forced himself to look the triple-changer in the optics. Astrotrain didn’t look upset in the least that Cyclonus was here, just mildly curious. “I want to… apologize to you,” Cyclonus said. “I let Galvatron’s behavior get out of hand for too long and I know it caused a lot of hurt for you.”

Astrotrain chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “I… I guess I thought that might be what you were getting at. But I think you did everything you could to help him.”

“Even if I did,” Cyclonus said, “He continued to abuse people and I stayed by his side.”

“Cyclonus,” Astrotrain said, frowning slightly, “he hit you too.”

“I know that,” Cyclonus said. He was feeling frustrated, and he remembered how Galvatron hit him, and how he excused it because of the plasma illness, and even after he’d tried to get Galvatron help, and it hadn’t worked, he’d still excused it. And at some point it had twisted into, Cyclonus could excuse being hit if it meant others were hit less, and he hadn’t known for sure what his feelings were anymore, and then Galvatron was gone and everything suddenly didn’t make sense. “But I was second-in-command,” he told Astrotrain. “I was in a position of authority over you all and I should have done something about it.”

Astrotrain thought about that. “I see where you’re coming from,” he said. “And I suppose you’re not guiltless in that regard. But I know you… cared for him.” Cyclonus saw Astrotrain wince, barely, and try to hide it. “I understand how it would have been difficult for you to do something about it when that probably would have required a mutiny or something.”

Cyclonus was silent. Maybe he wasn’t expecting that answer from Astrotrain. Honestly, he didn’t know what he’d been expecting.

“I don’t think you should be worrying about it now,” Astrotrain went on. “He’s dead, and you can’t hold yourself responsible for all the damage he did just because you couldn’t fix him. And just because you cared about him didn’t mean it was your job to fix him, either.”

Cyclonus just stared at Astrotrain. He’d never have branded the triple-changer as being insightful, but here he was, hitting the proverbial nail on the head.

Astrotrain saw how Cyclonus was looking at him and shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Does that make sense? I’ve been—at some people’s suggestion, I’ve been reading some stuff about… coping. And dealing. You know. So. Um.”

“It does make sense,” Cyclonus said, and he thought, maybe, he ought to look into that.

“But, uh, I accept your apology, even though it’s only half necessary?” Astrotrain said.

“Thank you,” Cyclonus said. He stood, then added, “Is my being here going to… be difficult for you? Remind you of him?”

Astrotrain was silent for a minute, then he said, “I’ll be okay. And I have Blitzwing to help me. I think you ought to just take care of yourself.” He smiled at Cyclonus. “Don’t try to shoulder everything.”

Just hearing Astrotrain—someone he’d been carrying around a lot of guilt about—say that made Cyclonus feel a little lighter. For the first time since he got there, he started feeling like maybe he could accomplish something. Maybe he could focus on being Decepticon liaison and working with the Autobots, instead of thinking about where he shouldn’t be and who he should avoid.

He’d work on it.

Skyfire and Starscream got up after an hour; Starscream grudgingly admitted that he felt better, and Skyfire hadn’t actually fallen asleep but couldn’t care less because he’d been holding Starscream in his arms the entire time.

When Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet returned, inexplicably having brought Chromedome, Hardhead, and Blurr along, Starscream just called them all idiots and put them to work. He told Soundwave to call Optimus Prime and tell him, “If he finds he’s missing three Autobots, they’re here on Chaar,” and that was it.

They heard back shortly from Ultra Magnus, who simply said Starscream could keep them. Sixshot suggested sending more Decepticons in retaliation, but Starscream just rolled his optics and said they could use the extra hands, for now.

Starscream and Sixshot had been making visible attempts to be more civil, although they clearly still got on each other’s nerves. Skyfire appreciated the effort, however, and made sure they both knew it.

Starscream’s mood in general had also improved considerably, and he and Skyfire made steady progress with their research.

Skyfire’s mood was also considerably better, which meant he was practically walking on air. Every day he woke up on Chaar he remembered that he was here with Starscream, who loved him, and all his emotions just bubbled up and overflowed. He was here with Starscream, and they were on the same side, Starscream was running things and doing a damn good job (Skyfire made sure to tell him that on the regular) and Starscream was _happy_ , and Skyfire could think of nothing in the universe that made him happier than that.

**Author's Note:**

> The coneheads are super dumb but that is why I love them


End file.
